Barbed Arrow is pleased to announce The Grand Arena of Serndall, a massively multiplayer web-based game for tablets, mobile phones, and traditional computers, scheduled for an mid-2014 release. The Grand Arena of Serndall combines strategy, tactics, and political intrigue focused on intense factional and player collaboration and conflict.

Set in the fantasy city of Serndall, an unbreachable fortress built on the single mountain pass that bridges the region’s nations, Serndall is the center of trade and commerce. Its strategic location and stalwart military has made Serndall the most important and powerful city on the continent.

The Grand Arena, at the heart of the city, provides the most popular form of entertainment in the city as well as incentive and glory for upcoming warriors and gladiators to make their home in Serndall, supplementing the city’s military at no cost. Combat in the Grand Arena is one on one, with the winner rising up the ranks to vie for the chance to unseat and dismiss the reigning Champion back to the ranks of hopefuls.

All three of the major political factions of Serndall are represented in the the Grand Arena. The Brotherhood of the Ebon Circle – the city’s largest trade guild, the Brotherhood is also the most respected, yet feared, as their business is… slavery. Opposing the Brotherhood is the Crimson Legion, hailing from the fledgling Free Nation, where slavery is illegal and most of its citizens come from former slavery. Balancing the conflict is the loose coaltion of mercenaries, willing to back the faction who can pay the most… unless the mercenaries can turn it to their advantage in another way.

Each of the factions is controlled by a powerful group of leaders drawn from faction members through the ambitions and power struggles within each faction. The political machinations of factional leadership changes the balance of control in the city… and in the Grand Arena.

Nothing is free in Serndall, and that includes advancement in the Grand Arena. In the climb to Champion, it must come on the backs of others. Each advancement is at the detriment of another hopeful. Not only combat skill is required to reach the glory of being champion, choosing your enemies and allies recklessly can make the challenge nigh impossible.

The Grand Arena of Serndall is set in a large fantasy world of hidden opportunity and peril. Hundreds of different types of combat training, weapons, armor, spells, and other knowledge and equipment allow near infinite subtleties in tactics and strategy on your path to Champion, controlling your faction, or making your mark on the city itself.

Founded in 2011 and headquartered north of the border in Kitchener, Ontario (internationally known for the biggest Oktoberfest celebration in North America – cool, huh?), Barbed Arrow is a fledgling independent developer and publisher of multi-platform online games.

Barbed Arrow was founded on two three cornerstones: our mutual disinterest and distaste in most of today’s games, some theories and conceptual plans of how to make better games, and… beer.

Pending the regular push-pull pain of game design and development, Barbed Arrow’s first title – The Grand Arena of Serndall – is slated for public release in 2013.